


Insomnia

by ImpishTubist



Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-05
Updated: 2014-07-05
Packaged: 2018-02-07 12:48:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 440
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1899615
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ImpishTubist/pseuds/ImpishTubist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Leonard squeezed Jim's cool fingers, remembering when they had been ice beneath his touch, and stiff as death.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Insomnia

**Author's Note:**

> Originally appeared [here](http://impishtubist.tumblr.com/post/90176973845/bones-jim-9-please).

On the nights when Leonard couldn’t sleep - which had become a regular occurrence in the weeks since the incident with Khan - he usually went up to the galley with a book. The room was usually deserted in the middle of the night, and he could read in peace. Or brood, which was more likely.

He was sitting at a table near the portholes when the doors slid open and Jim padded in, dressed in his patient whites and barefoot. He smiled when he saw Leonard and Leonard grinned back, marveling at the fact that they were able to enjoy such a simple exchange. Only two weeks ago, Jim had been dead in Leonard’s medical bay.

“What are you doing out and about?” Leonard asked as Jim sat down across from him. “You’re supposed to be resting.”

“Christine told me I could go for a walk. I’ve only got an hour. She’ll hunt me down if I don’t return at precisely 2300.” Jim leaned back in his chair. “I had to get out of there. The quiet was driving me mad. Late night?”

Leonard shook his head. “Nah. Just can’t sleep.”

Jim gave a ghost of a smirk. “Want a hand with that?”

Leonard gave a bark of laughter. That had been their cure for insomnia back at the Academy - having sex until they were literally too tired to get it up anymore and eventually passed out in Jim’s bunk.

“Sorry, Jim, but you know you can’t have sex for at least another three weeks. We gotta keep your heart rate down, among other things.”

“I know.” Jim gave a wan smile. “I wouldn’t be able to give much of a performance, anyway, but it was worth a try. Thank you, by the way.”

Leonard gave him a quizzical look. “What for?”

“Saving my ass,” Jim said. An uncharacteristically somber expression crossed his features. “I wouldn’t be sitting here right now if it wasn’t for you.”

“Don’t thank me,” Leonard grunted after a moment. “I did it more for myself than I did for you. ‘Cause I don’t wanna live in a universe where you aren’t here, Jim.”

Jim reached across the table that separated them and touched his hand. Leonard hesitated, and then he curled his fingers around Jim’s.

“Len,” Jim said quietly, “you’re gonna be saving my ass for a long time to come, okay? ‘Til we’re both old and gray and have retired to that farmhouse in Georgia.”

Leonard gave a choked laugh. He squeezed Jim's cool fingers, remembering when they had been ice beneath his touch, and stiff as death.

“God, Jim,” he whispered, “I hope so.”


End file.
